Smoking, arousal, and affect: the role of anxiety sensitivity

Despite evidence that smoking elevates peripheral autonomic nervous system activity, cigarette smokers commonly report smoking to reduce negative affect, or "calm down." Studies suggest that anxiety sensitivity is positively associated with the use of anxiolytic substances, but anxiety sensitivity is also characterized by aversive responding to elevations in physiological arousal. As such, anxiety sensitivity may be an important factor in the study of smoking, affect, and arousal.

Smokers smoked cigarettes in two experimental sessions: a Stressful Speech Condition and a No Stress Condition. Psychophysiological and self-report served as within-subjects, repeated measures.

Findings revealed that smoking reduced anxiety in high anxiety sensitive smokers who smoked during a stressful situation, but not a no stress situation. Low anxiety sensitive smokers endorsed anxiolysis in both conditions.

Results suggest that high anxiety sensitive smokers may be sensitive to the physiologically arousing effects of smoking in low stress, low arousal, situations.